ACC97: Using Automation to Send a Microsoft Outlook Message

• Microsoft Access 97

SUMMARY

Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

This article demonstrates how to create and send a Microsoft Outlook message in Microsoft Access 97 using Automation with Visual Basic for Applications.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access 97" manual.

For more information about using Automation to send a Microsoft Exchange message, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q153311
   TITLE     : Using Automation to Send a Microsoft Exchange Message

MORE INFORMATION

The SendObject method provides a way to send a MAPI mail message programmatically in Microsoft Access. However, the SendObject method does not give you access to complete mail functionality, such as the ability to attach an external file or set message importance. The example that follows uses Automation to create and send a mail message that you can use to take advantage of many features in Microsoft Outlook that are not available with the SendObject method.

There are six main steps when you use Automation to send a Microsoft Outlook mail message:

• Initialize the Outlook session
• Create a new message
• Add the recipients (To, CC, and BCC) and resolve their names
• Set valid properties, such as the Subject, Body, and Importance
• Add attachments (if any)
• Display/Send the message

1. Create a sample text file named Customers.txt in the C:\My Documents folder.

2. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

3. Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:

         Option Explicit
   

4. On the Tools menu, click References.

5. In the References box, click the Microsoft Outlook 8.0 Object Model and then click OK.

   NOTE: If the Microsoft Outlook 8.0 Object Model does not appear in the Available References box, browse your hard drive for the file Msoutl8.olb. If you cannot locate this file, you must run the Microsoft Outlook Setup program to install it before you proceed with this example.

6. Type the following procedure in the new module:

         Sub SendMessage(DisplayMsg As Boolean, Optional AttachmentPath)
             Dim objOutlook As Outlook.Application
             Dim objOutlookMsg As Outlook.MailItem
             Dim objOutlookRecip As Outlook.Recipient
             Dim objOutlookAttach As Outlook.Attachment
   
             ' Create the Outlook session.
             Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
   
             ' Create the message.
             Set objOutlookMsg  = objOutlook.CreateItem(olMailItem)
   
             With objOutlookMsg
                 ' Add the To recipient(s) to the message.
                 Set objOutlookRecip = .Recipients.Add("Nancy Davolio")
                 objOutlookRecip.Type = olTo
   
                 ' Add the CC recipient(s) to the message.
                 Set objOutlookRecip = .Recipients.Add("Michael Suyama")
                 objOutlookRecip.Type = olCC
   
                ' Add the BCC recipient(s) to the message.
                 Set objOutlookRecip = .Recipients.Add("Andrew Fuller")
                 objOutlookRecip.Type = olBCC
   
                ' Set the Subject, Body, and Importance of the message.
                .Subject = "This is an Automation test with Microsoft Outlook"
                .Body = "This is the body of the message." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf
                .Importance = olImportanceHigh  'High importance
   
                ' Add attachments to the message.
                If Not IsMissing(AttachmentPath) Then
                    Set objOutlookAttach = .Attachments.Add(AttachmentPath)
                End If
   
                ' Resolve each Recipient's name.
                For Each ObjOutlookRecip In .Recipients
                    objOutlookRecip.Resolve
                Next
   
                ' Should we display the message before sending?
                If DisplayMsg Then
                    .Display
                Else
                    .Send
                End If
             End With
             Set objOutlook = Nothing
         End Sub
   
   

7. To test this procedure, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER.

          SendMessage True, "C:\My Documents\Customers.txt"
   

   Note that a new message is displayed in Microsoft Outlook with an attachment.

   To send the message without displaying it in Microsoft Outlook, call the procedure with a False value for the first argument:

          SendMessage False, "C:\My Documents\Customers.txt"
   

   To send the message without specifying an attachment, omit the second argument when calling the procedure.

          SendMessage True
   

REFERENCES

For more information about using Automation in Microsoft Access, search the Help Index for "Automation," or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.

For more information about using Automation to control Microsoft Outlook, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q160502
   TITLE     : ACC: Using Automation to Add Appointments to Microsoft
               Outlook

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161012
   TITLE     : VBA: How to Create a New Contact Item in Outlook with
               Automation